Wendy Fopeano

Wendy
Fopeano is a jazz vocalist based in Denver, Colorado. Originally from
Kansas City, Missouri, Wendy started out as an instrumentalist, playing
electric and acoustic bass, trumpet, guitar, and piano, before choosing
voice as her main instrument. She is very
interested in ethnic music, especially Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and
Indian. She was chosen to study Indian classical vocal techniques and
tabla in
Mumbai, India during a residency in 1999, has studied Afro-Cuban
percussion and is currently learning to play percussion used in
Brazilian pagode music. Wendy
has taught through The
Harmony Project,
which pairs artists with teachers in public schools to facilitate
learning through the arts. She has composed children's songs about
nature, geometry, and Colorado
history to
help kids learn these subjects in fun ways. From 2001 to 2011 she
hosted her own jazz showon
Denver's jazz89 KUVO, and interviewed many fine musicians, including
Tom Harrell, Christian McBride, Jonathan Kreisberg, Stanley Clarke, and
Chick Corea.

Her newest CD Raining
On The Roses is available for purchase through CD Baby.
In Denver, it can be found at Twist & Shout
(2508 E. Colfax, 303-722-1943). The CD was recorded live at Dazzle jazz club
in Denver and features
Marc Sabatella
and Jeff Jenkins on piano, Bill Kopper on guitar, Bijoux Barbosa on
bass, Jill Fredericksen on drums and special guests vocalist/pianist
Carol Comer and pianist Art Lande.
In his book, The Jazz Singers, famed
jazz writer Scott
Yanow writes that Fopeano's Raining
on the Roses CD makes "one wonder why she is not
nationally famous." Wendy's previous CD, When There's Love,
is also available on CD Baby, and features an outstanding trio of Art
Lande on piano, Dwight Killian on bass, and Jill Fredericksen on
drums.

Wendy's
newest venture is her band Jazzmin, consisting of Carmen Sandim -
piano, Juli Royster - bass, and Jill Fredericksen - drums. They present
an eclectic mix of original compositions and songs they love, no matter
what the genre.

Wendy is a photographer,
specializing in photographing musicians in performance, and was an
official photographer for Jazzfest Denver. She is also dusting off her
acting chops, after many years. Her grandparents, Jenkin and Barbara
David, founded the first community theater in Kansas City, Missouri in
1954 in a barn on their property, The
Bell Road Barn Playhouse.
Wendy acted at The Barn from age 7 to age 26, then continued
acting in productions at theaters in Estes Park, Colorado, where she
took up residence in 1987. She also sings jingles and does voice-over
work.